Chapter 1 New World Encounters and the Columbian Exchange I Native American Origins A Environment Change and Human History 1 B Human evolution has proceeded against a backdrop of great Ice Ages The latest one occurring only 20 000 BCE years ago a Human settlement in the Americas began during the Wisconsin glaciation period with migrations traversing across Beringia from northwest Asia present day Siberia in Russia across to North America b Later a warming trend nine thousand years ago BCE led Native American Indians to shift from game hunting to other forms of survival c The majority of North America s original inhabitants descended from three separate migrating groups the PaleoIndians the Na Dene people and the Eskimo generic term These people are descendants of the Chukta Siberia who were the ancestors of Mesopotamian MiddleEastern inhabitants whose forefathers originated in Africa less than 60 000 BCE Seedtime for Native Cultures in North America 1 2 3 During the Archaic phase 5500BCE 200 CE American Indians developed a new way of life a Permanent settlement appeared b Greater reliance on vegetables and on small game and fish emerged c Finer stone tools were developed d Dogs were domesticated making possible easier transport of goods Permanent settlement led to population growth more free time and to the emergence of art Farming in permanent settlements also appeared during the Archaic phase a Forests were cleared to plant crops b The inhabitants of north central Mexico developed maize teosinte from where it spread c Crop cultivation eventually spread as far as the woodland Indians of North America C The Complex World of the Native American 1 2 3 4 5 II American Indian communities differed widely a The inhabitants of the Arctic region diverged racially and culturally from all other American Indian groups b American Indians in eastern North America practiced agriculture hunting and fishing c On the edge of the Western Plains migration from site to site persisted But no Great Plains culture existed yet American Indians traded widely with each other North America s inhabitants constructed large earthen mounds that served as ceremonial and trading centers a Hopewell culture remains at Cahokia indicate it was a center for the exchange of ideas and produce from all over the Western Hemisphere b The Mississippian culture built ceremonial and trading centers that had contact with Mexico s Mayas In the Eastern Woodlands people lived in smaller villages where they combined agriculture with hunting and gathering a A dominant matriarch supervised the daily tasks of running the household Indians in the Southwest were closely tied to Mexico but continued to engage in hunting and gathering longer than their counterparts south of the border The Age of Exploration 1000C E 1600C E A Change and Restlessness in the Atlantic World 1 2 European interest in global exploration and trade developed long before Columbus s voyage in 1492 a The Vikings under Eric the Red and later is son Leif Erickson explored Europe s eastern and western regions established colonies in Iceland Greenland and North America they refer to the inhabitants of the Vinland as Skraelings b The Crusades gave Europeans knowledge of international conditions and greater commercial skills as they attempted to wrest control of the Holy Land from the Muslims The emergence of unified nation states contributed to European expansion a In Spain Ferdinand and Isabella achieved national unification by marrying in 1469 and by continuing the struggle against the Muslim presence until their complete expulsion in 1492 b France achieved unification under Louis XI around 1480 2 c England achieved unification under Henry Tudor in the 1480s after defeating his rivals in the War of the Roses B Portuguese Exploration Africa and the Quest for Asia 1 Portugal was the first unified European nation to undertake exploration in search of new commercial opportunities a Prince Henry the Navigator encouraged exploration by establishing a school for navigation b By the middle of the 1400s Portugal controlled the Azores the Canaries and Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean Exploration southward brought the Portuguese into contact with the Songhay Empire of West Africa It was an ancient empire of western Africa in present day Mali It was founded c 700 CE by the Berbers and reached the height of its power around 1500 CE c From there the Portuguese shipped African goods to Europe d The Songhay introduced the Portuguese to the commercial possibilities of slavery Portuguese merchants began to deal in African slaves C Columbus s Folly and Exploration Fever 1 Christopher Columbus proposed to reach the markets of Asia by sailing west from Europe a At first he sought government backing in Portugal and several other nations in 1492 Spain s Ferdinand and Isabella agreed to finance his expedition b Sailing westward a total of four times Columbus discovered the Western Hemisphere but always believed that he had reached Asia c Other European governments sent out new expeditions to the west in order to reach Asia but these instead resulted in further discoveries in the New World D A New Transatlantic World 1 The English represented by John Cabot Giovanni Cabotto were the first to investigate an alternate route to India Cabot reached present day Newfoundland in 1497 opening up the Grand Banks for fishing He was the second European since Columbus to set foot in the New World 3 2 3 4 III Historians continue to debate when the English French and Basque fisherman first took advantage of the prolific fishing grounds off the North American coast Amerigo Vespucci This glory hound who lied his way into the history books may never have been remembered if not for an obscure German mapmaker named Martin Waldseemuller who used the name America on his maps Regrettably the name stuck and now we must include Vespucci among the list of famous explorers The facts regarding the voyages of Vespucci are accepted as given but the inexactness of the printed texts the difficulty of identifying the names of places used by Vespucci with the modern ones have given rise to enormous confusion in all that relates to all of his voyages which are now subject to close criticism This slow but steady European contact widely affected Indian populations The Columbian Exchange A Clash of cultures in the New World 1 2 B Columbus s discovery of the Western Hemisphere and the people there challenged Europeans to find a